Deep-sea diver and fossil fan: meet Manchester United’s new No 1 keeper

We expect goalkeepers to be good at diving. How about at 130ft below the surface of the ocean? That’s the depth Manchester United’s Phallon Tullis-Joyce is certified to plunge to, after studying marine science and biology at the University of Miami and continuing with her passion for the underwater world around the shores of the UK on her days off since her 2023 summer transfer to the Women’s Super League.

The 27-year-old’s prominence at Manchester United is poised to reach new heights as she embarks on a season where she is set to be the starting goalkeeper after Mary Earps’ summer switch to Paris Saint-Germain, and Tullis-Joyce should make her long-awaited English league debut against West Ham at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Her love for the environment and for 100-million-year-old fossils is just as strong as her thirst for clean sheets. “When you’re in kindergarten, they always ask: ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’” she says. “My little card said: ‘I want to be a marine biologist,’ and I was obsessed with soccer from the start and obsessed with marine biology from the start. I always knew that those were my paths.

Manchester United's head coach, Marc Skinner, says he feels “alive again” before  the new Women’s Super League season and is aiming to win the club’s first WSL title this term.

Skinner’s team won the FA Cup last season, their first major trophy, but were disappointed to finish fifth in the league. Skinner feels the arrivals of the sporting director, Dan Ashworth, and chief executive, Omar Berrada, have injected new positivity into the women’s team.

“Dan [Ashworth] is coming in this morning to speak to the players again, as he's already been two or three times, about what it means to be at Manchester United, what we want to achieve," Skinner said. "That shows the positivity around the club. Our whole staff yesterday spoke about the vision for the women's team about how we want to deliver our first WSL title.”

At the end of last term Skinner called for the club to invest more in the team. Asked on Thursday whether he felt that had happened adequately, and whether fans could expect him to be calling for that again next May, he said he would not be making any excuses.

“I want to win a title this year. I don't make excuses. I never have. I'm excited about the team we have. I still think we have work to do as a whole club over the next two windows to get the players to be the final version. But where we sit right now, I'm very happy with the commitment behind the team. You won't get excuses from me. I've always been honest. I always will be.

"What I can absolutely assure you is I have more energy now than I've ever had. I'm absolutely raring to go. I feel alive again and I want that to transmit into my team." Tom Garry

“Immediately when I got here [in 2023], I went straight up to Oban in Scotland. That was the first dive centre that I joined, and then I’ve also been to Anglesey. I found out that that’s where the sea birds nest, and they also have great scuba diving there, too; the sea cliffs are gorgeous. You guys have some gorgeous natural marvels, just crazy things I haven’t seen before. I saw my first cuttlefish, so honestly, props to you guys! That’s really cool.

“I am deep-diving certified. I did max that out [130ft] in Belize at the Blue Hole, an ancient cavern system, where I was hoping to see some sharks – we didn’t, but that was some great scuba diving. I was just recently diving in Norway as well. I’ve been around.”

Equally enthused by palaeontology, Tullis-Joyce can also often be found fossil collecting in Yorkshire, spending hours “trying to find some ammonites”, or at sites of palaeontological interest along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall. “I’m a big Mary Anning [the renowned 19th-century English fossil collector] fan. I’m just really geeked out about the history that you have here.”

Her other heroes include the American oceanographer Sylvia Earle, of whom she says: “I had the opportunity to meet her in high school and found out her nickname is ‘Her Deepness’. She’s also just such an ambassador for the ocean and the environment and has some great quotes like: ‘No blue, no green. No water, no life.’ She’s just a massive advocate for our environment.”

When Tullis-Joyce retires from football, hopefully far in the future, she intends to return to academia and pursue a doctorate in marine ecology and marine protected areas. For now, her primary focus is trying to bring success to United. In her first year at the club, she was an unused substitute for all 22 WSL games and all five ties in the triumphant Women’s FA Cup run. However, she did play in their four League Cup fixtures, keeping two clean sheets.

The New York-born, 6ft player is ready to take on extra responsibility this season. “Everyone knows the club and the pressure and expectations that come with that,” says Tullis-Joyce, who worked under the new Leicester manager, Amandine Miquel, when winning the French second tier with Reims. “That has been explained to me from the very start. I’ve been prepared. It’s up to me now, but I have been very well prepared by the coaching staff, and Willco [goalkeeper coach Ian Willcock] is an incredible goalkeeper trainer.”

Tullis-Joyce has significant experience as a No 1 in a top league, not least in the 2022 American NWSL season when she was ever-present for the Seattle-based OL Reign, helping a side including Megan Rapinoe, Rose Lavelle and Jess Fishlock finish top of the regular-season table. That is a league position United would love to compete for, after last term’s fifth-placed finish. Elisabeth Terland and Anna Sandberg are among the summer signings and Tullis-Joyce senses the team have a fresh energy.

“We’ve seen their personalities right away. They made themselves known, like: ‘This is me, this is who I am, this is what I can bring to the team.’ We’re coming into this [season] as a new, young group, and we just want to approach the field with our own style, our own personality … My personal goal for this season is just to really let my personality show on the field and let my work ethic be a nice foundation for my teammates to know that I’m right there behind them, no matter what happens on the field. Any types of mistakes, I’m right there for them to clean it up.”